Sitting in a deserted dugout with an old friend, Ted Stuff gazes out at the empty baseball diamond where for more than a dozen years he’s watched his boys as a coach, fan and father.

“It’s like a fastball,” he says. “It goes by so quick.”

TED IS A Great Falls man with a lifelong connection to baseball. And now he’s passing it on.

Ted and several friends are this summer coaching a traveling baseball team called the Great Falls Rivals. Their sons are among the players.

Today they’re playing ball in Billings; next weekend they’ll be on a diamond in Whitefish.

The Rivals aren’t affiliated with any organization. They pay their own insurance and conduct their own fundraising. The team will play 50 or more games this year.

“The boys love it,” says Ted. “And so do we.”

IN SOME WAYS, Ted is an unconventional father. He and his longtime girlfriend, Angela, have a son, Cade, and daughter, Avarey. The family also includes Angela’s older son, Skyler Smith, a former Legion baseball star who played the sport at Miles Community College.

But if Ted’s family situation lacks tradition, there is also an uncommon bond that he shares with all the kids who live under his roof. As Father’s Day approaches, it’s worth noting that baseball has helped strengthen the relationships throughout the Stuff household.

“I just grew up around the ballfield, with both baseball and softball,” Ted says. “Skyler always had a baseball bat in his hands. He played with (coaches) PJ Cook and Aaron Johnson on the traveling team. It started there.”

Skyler’s biological father lives in town and has supported his son as well. Ted is quick to point that out.

But to Ted, Skyler is like flesh and blood.

“It never felt like he wasn’t my son,” Ted says.

The common denominator that is baseball helped.

“Absolutely,” Ted says. “It’s probably what drew us closer. It was the glue to our relationship.”

TED GRADUATED from C.M. Russell High in 1982. He played some Legion ball for the Chargers from 1979-81.

Now he’s grooming young players. Turning them into young men. It’s the goal for youth coaches in all sports everywhere.

Baseball, says Ted, provides a perfect lesson plan.

“It makes them into good citizens,” Ted says. “With our traveling team, it’s very important to respect the game. I think you learn a lot of life lessons from the game. Win, lose or draw, it helps you grow to be a man.”

Cade, 14, plays on the Rivals, a 15-under traveling team. Roger Spring and Rusty Strickland are coaches along with Ted.

He shakes his head and smiles.

“It’s amazing how the kids grow,” Ted says. “Cade teaches me a lot of things, just like Skyler taught me a lot of things. Especially about being humble. Skyler was very competitive. A stellar baseball player, but he was humble in his wins and humble in his losses.”

Ted says he’ll never forget that.

THE RIVALS lease the Westside Little League ballpark.

“It’s worked out well for everybody,” Ted says.

While the Rivals have some excellent young players, the relationships being forged are just as outstanding.

“We have kids from CMR, kids from Great Falls High, kids from North Junior High and kids from East,” Ted says. “I think that will bond them together. They have respect for each other. There’s a friendship there that’s building.”

BASEBALL, said Ted, has always been a constant in his family. And it always will.

“We all love the game,” he smiled. “I have a grandma who’s 102. She’s a Saint Looey fan. We were just down in Billings last weekend and stopped in to see her. And the game is on. She knows stats and the whole deal, man. It’s great.”

PARENTS who are youth sports coaches sometimes are criticized for pushing their kids too hard.

Ted isn’t buying it.

“If you ask our boys on the Rivals, I think they’d say they’re all boys who want to move forward and get stronger and be better ballplayers,” he says. “Some people might look at us and say we exclude kids, but we have work-in-progress kids on our team that aren’t stellar baseball players yet. But they have a love for the game, they give 110 percent and they do what we ask for them. We don’t push them to a point where they get sick of it. If they want to learn and move on, they need to play better baseball against better competition.”

TED SAYS the Rivals will likely be together for one more year. Then many of the boys will move up to the American Legion level.

But, he adds, that doesn’t mean the family’s connection to our National Pastime will end.

“No,” Ted says, smiling once again. “It’s going to keep going. I’ll be a part of it in some way after Cade’s done playing. And I’m sure that one day he’ll be able to share baseball with his kids, too.”